The HPE FlexFabric 12900E Switch Series is a next-generation modular data center core switch designed to support virtualized data centers and the evolving needs of private and public cloud deployments. It delivers unprecedented levels of performance, buffering, scale, and availability with high-density GbE, 10GbE, 40GbE and 100GbE connectivity. The Switch Series includes 1-, 2-, 4-, 8- and 16-slot chassis. Ready for software-defined networking (SDN), the 12900E Switch supports full Layer 2 and 3 features and advanced data center features to build resilient scalable fabrics and achieve convergence.

What's new

• Introducing 100GbE in HPE FlexFabric 12900 switch series along with high scale 100GbE and 40GbE modules
• High scalability and density with 1G, 10G, 40G and 100G interface options

Modern, Scalable and Distributed Architecture

The HPE FlexFabric 12900E Switch Series provides non-blocking, lossless Clos architecture with VOQs and large buffers with the flexibility and scalability for future growth.

Distributed architecture with separation of data and control planes delivers enhanced fault tolerance and facilitates continuous operation and zero service disruption during planned or unplanned control-plane events.

Advanced Comware modular operating system brings native high stability, independent process monitoring, and restart through the modular design and multiple processes of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Comware v7 software; enhanced serviceability functions are supported.

In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) provides an upgrade of the entire chassis, or an individual task or process, with zero packet loss.

High-Performance Switch Series with Broad Interface Options

The high-performance fully distributed architecture of the HPE FlexFabric 12900E Switch Series delivers up to 184 Tbps switching capacity and 92.16 Bpps, providing non-blocking wire speed performance.

High-density 1GbE, 10GbE, 40GbE and 100GbE interface connectivity with up to 16 interface module slots scales up to 768 1GbE/10GbE, 768 40GbE ports and 576 100GbE ports.

Distributed scalable fabric architecture offers up to six fabric modules delivering more than 21.6 Tb per slot bandwidth.

Optimized for the Next-Generation Data Center

The HPE FlexFabric 12900E Switch Series let you build Layer 2 fabrics which are flexible, resilient, and scalable with VxLAN, TRILL and/or Hewlett Packard Enterprise IRF.

Enhanced Multitenant Device Context (MDC) for multi-tenancy giving you the ability to virtualize a physical switch into multiple logical devices; each logical switch has its own tenants.

Network and storage convergence with support for Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and Data Center Bridging (DCB) protocols includes IEEE 802.1Qaz Data Center Bridging Exchange (DCBX), Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS), and IEEE 802.1Qbb Priority Flow Control (PFC).

Enterprise-Class Availability and Resiliency with broad L2 & L3 Feature Set

Intelligent Resilient Fabric (IRF) creates virtual resilient switching fabrics where two HPE FlexFabric 12900E switches perform as a single Layer 2 switch and Layer 3 router that can be attached using standard LACP for automatic load balancing and high availability.

The Switch Series offers hot-swappable modules and redundant load-sharing fabrics, management, power and fan assemblies which provides you with optimum network performance and availability while simplifying your network operations.

Comprehensive switching and routing features are delivered with full-featured IPv4/IPv6, ACLs, and QoS capabilities.